Cotton picker



c. R. BERRY COTTON PICKER Dec. 10, 1940.

Original Filed Aug. 18, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet l izh aa Chanleslz. Beam m 8 8 I SN W Q Dec. 10, 1940. c, R. BERRY 2,224,235

COTTON PIQKER Original Filed Aug. 18, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Charles E. Berry.

Patented Dec. 10, 1940 Charles R. Berry, Greenville, Miss, assignor of one-half to Hugh A. Gamble, Greenville, Miss.

Application August 18, 1938, Serial No. 225,638 Renewed August 19, 1939 9 Claims.

The present invention relates generally to cotton pickers of the type described and claimed in my copending applications, one of which was filed June 9, 1937, under Serial Number M7375, and the other of which was filed April 23, 1938, under Serial Number 203,903, both of said applications disclosing double row pickers in which the picking units are mounted and operated at the opposite sides of a tractor, specially equipped in so far as driving and adjustment of the units are concerned.

It is to be understood at the outset that the present improvements have to do with the construction and operation of a picking unit, especially the means provided therein for the rotational driving of the needles or spindles along the picking side of the unit'and thus during the full picking operation, while at the same time permitting movement of said needles or spindles Without rotation along the opposite or doing side of the unit where the previously picked cotton is removed therefrom preparatory to a succeeding picking operation.

Hence, while particularly adapted to use in connection with double row pickers as disclosed in my above applications, the present invention is applicable to cotton picking units otherwise organized for single or double row use, as long as they are of the needle or spindle type.

In my application Serial Number 203,903 above mentioned, series of vertically disposed needle carrier and stripper bars in cooperating pairs were disclosed as movably connected at their upper and lower ends to carrier chains, the inner ends of the spindles of a vertical series thereof being rotatably supported by each carrier bar against lengthwise movement with respect to such bar, each spindle projecting outwardly, and in rotatable and lengthwise movable relation, through its respective stripper bar.

The several spindles, thus disposed in vertical series, were also shown as arranged in horizontal lines and as provided with friction wheels at their inner ends engageable with stationary friction tracks or rails supported in the unit along the picking side so that along this side only, the several spindles will, in their series movement, be rapidly rotated on their own axes.

According to my present improvements, the stationary friction tracks or rails are dispensed with and the spindles are more efiiciently and continuously rotated in their passage along the picking side of the unit by means of continuously moving belts, the form and disposition of which make for substantially more effective rotational movement of the spindles, and consequently more efiective cotton picking, all as more readily understandable from the following detailed description of the various parts, and the manner in which their various portions cooperate. I I

In the accompanying drawings, in which for purposes of illustration I have adopted the general machine'disclosure of my above application Serial Number 203,903, which drawings form a part of this specification,

Figure l is a partial top plan View of a two row cotton picker to which my present improvements may be applied.

Figure 2 is a vertical, longitudinal sectional View through the picking unit, taken substantially centrally thereof, on line 2-4. of Figure 1.

Figure 2 is an enlarged detail horizontal section illustrating one of the belt adjusting devices Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional View, taken L substantially on line 33 of Figure 2, and,

Figure 4 is a vertical, transverse sectional view taken substantially on line'4-4 of Figure 3.

Referring to these figures, I have shown in Figure l, a picking unit generally indicated at l6, suspended at one side of a tractor generally indicated at H). Thus we have but one-side of a double row type of cotton picker, it being under stood that another similar unit is, in practice,

disposed at the opposite side of the tractor. The

tractor is shown as having front steering wheels 8 l, rear traction wheels l2, a rear seat l3 for the tractor control operator adjacent the tractor steering wheel l4, and a front seat 15 for a second operator Who controls vertical and lateral or horizontal adjustments of the picking units during operation in the field. I I

For its adjustable support, each picking unit is flexibly connected as by means of linked or. other movable connections Il as seen in Figure 2, to the lower ends of upright supporting rods l," similarly connected at their upper ends to the outer cranks l8 of tubular members I9, sleeved on cylindrical supporting bars 2!! which rigidly outstand from the tractor.

At their inner ends, members l9 have depending cranks 2i pivoted to a longitudinal connecting bar 22, controlled by a spring 23 at its rear end and pivoted at its forward end to a foot lever 2% adjacent to the front seat l5. Also near seat 55 is a hand lever 25 secured'to the forward end of a rock shaft 25 having at its rear crank and rod connections 2'! with the unit l6. Unit l6 may thus be raised and lowered under control of the foot lever 24, and may be adjusted toward and away from the tractor under control of the hand lever 26.

The picking unit l5, as best seen in Figures 2, 3, and 4, preferably has a top plate 28, and a bottom plate 29, connected along the outer side and ends by a vertical wall 30, and rigidly spaced at certain intermediate points by vertical stay bolts 3|. Brackets 3| at the front and rear extend laterally from the inner side of the unit for the support of spaced apart vertical series of longitudinal guide rails 33 and 34, forming between them a plant guide channel wider at its forward end by reason of the flaring forward ends of rails 33.

The unit also has front and rear vertical shafts 35 and 36, revolubly mounted at the upper and lower ends thereof in bearings 31 in the top and bottom plates 28 and 29, each of these shafts having upper and lower double sprockets 38 and 39, receiving the forward and rear turns of endless chains 40, 4|, 42 and 43. To the chains 46 and 42 are turnably connected the upperand lower ends of the series of spaced apart vertical stripper bars 44, and to the chains 4| and 43 are similarly connected the upper and lower ends of the carrier bars 45, one of the latter being positioned inwardly beyond each of the former. These connections of the bars are effected by screw bolts through special apertured links of the several chains, as in my above application Serial 203,903.

Through the carrier bars 45 are rotatably journaled the inner end portions of the spindles 48, the extremities of which, inwardly beyond the carrier bars, have secured thereto tapering friction wheels 49 which, it will be noted, are arranged so that successive pairs of wheels throughout each vertical series of spindles, form between themselves substantially V-shaped grooves to receive the outwardly directed tapering surfaces or outer V-shaped portions of double V-shaped belts 50, whereby in this arrangement each belt engages and drives the spindles above and below the same. I The further arrangement and actuation of belts 50 will follow presently, it being understood that each spindle is held against longitudinally moving with respect to its carrier bar 45, although it is both rotatable and lengthwise movable with respect to its stripper bar 44. In all of their movements, both together and relative to one another, the corresponding stripper and carrier bars 44 and 45 are guided by plungers 59 of the former entering hollow fingers 58 of the latter, so as to take all strain from the several spindles.

It is to be particularly noted that, while the sprocket wheels 38 and 39 of shaft 36 are fixed thereto, as by means of keys, see especially Figure 2, those of shaft 35 are rotatable with respect thereto, being provided with anti-friction bearings 5|, so that as far as the carrier bar and stripper bar chains 40 and 4| are concerned, shaft 36 is the driving shaft of the unit, and shaft 35 is merely a support upon which its respective chain engaging sprocket wheels 33 and 39 are rotatably held. Moreover both shafts 35 and36 in the present construction have extensions 52 and 53 projecting above the top plate of the unit and respectively provided with worm wheels 54 and 55 driven in relatively opposite directions by worms at spaced points on an upper longitudinally extending worm shaft 72 to be presently further referred to.

On both shafts 35 and 36, between their upper and lower sprocket wheels 38 and 39, are series of pulleys 54 and 55, having grooved peripheries, pulleys 54 being secured on shaft 35 to be driven thereby, and pulleys 55 being freely rotatable in connection with suitable bearings on shaft 36. 5

Around these pulleys 54 and 55 are trained the belts 59, the pulleys being vertically spaced to maintain the belts between the horizontal rows of spindles for the purpose of rotating double rows of said spindles as before stated. Since 1 shaft 35 is driven in a direction opposite to that of shaft 36, the belts 50 will move in a direction opposite to that of the carrier chains and the carrier and stripper bars. Thus these movements will compound to bring about a very de- 1 sirable high speed rotation of the spindles.

Centrally between the forward and rear sprockets 35 and 36, and laterally spaced at equidistantly opposite sides of a line connecting said shafts are a vertical shaft 6| at the picking side 2 of the unit, and a pair of vertically alined stub shafts 62 at the discharge or dofiing side. The shaft 6| revolubly supports upper and lower sprocket wheels 63, over which the chains 40, 4|, 42 and 43 are trained, said wheels 63 acting mere- 2 1y as guides to hold all of the chains outwardly at the center of the inner run, so that in the course of their movement rearwardly along the picking side of the unit, they cause the spindles to successively pass into, rearwardly through, and out 3 of, the picking channel. Since the belts 50 must be correspondingly guided, they are trained around pulleys 56 revoluble on shaft 6|.

The shafts 62 at the outer side of the unit are each provided with a pair of sprocket wheels 64 and 65, the chains 40 and 42, supporting the stripper bars 44, being trained over the outer perimeters of sprocket wheels 64, and the chains 4| and 43, supporting the carrier bars 45, being trained over the inner perimeters of sprocket 4 wheels 65. It will be observed that the several sprocket wheels are so related that the aXes of sprocket wheels 64 and 65 are in a line connecting the outer perimeters of the front and rear double sprockets, and rotate idly in their guiding func- 4 tions in relatively opposite directions.

Obviously then, the cotton laden spindles, after having passed rearwardly throughout the plant guiding channel and rounded the rear end of the unit will, in the course of their movement along the outer side of the unit, gradually shift lengthwise with respect to the stripper bars by reason of the gradual separation laterally of the carrier and stripper bars, the former deflecting inwardly 5 with the chains 4| and 43, and the latter deflecting outwardly with the chains 46 and 42. This movement of the parts maintains until, at a point outwardly of, and laterally opposite to, the sprocket wheels 64 and 65, the spindles will be nearly completely withdrawn through the stripper bars and the cotton thereon pushed by said bars to the spindle extremities from which the cotton is readily removable by the dofling mechanism. 6

During the movement of the spindles along the inner, picking side of the unit, the oppositely moving belts 50 obviously rotate the spindles at high speed, but it will be noted that as the spindles pass around the rear shaft 36 and approach 7 the point at which the carrier and stripper bars diverge to relatively opposite sides of the sprocket wheels 64 and 65, they'leave belts 5B, or rather the belts leave the spindles since they are trained laterally, inwardly around vertical series of guide pulleys 8| and 82, respectively adjacent the forward and rear shafts 3'5 and 36.

The pulleys Bl are mounted in brackets 83 which may be journalled on certain of the stay bolts 3|, and the pulleys 82 are supported on laterally swinging brackets 85 which may be journalled for swinging movement on another stay bolt 3!, and are arranged to be independently, yieldingly controlled by springs. As best seen in Figure 2 the springs 81 are adjustably in connection with a vertical spring anchor bar 88, so that in addition to their guiding function, pulleys 82 may be placed under adjustable tension of their springs 81 to bring about uniform tension of the several belts 50 and to take up any slack due to stretching thereof in use.

The dofiing mechanism may, as in my previous applications, consist of a card cylinder 65,'taking the cotton from the spindles, and a brush cylinder 6'! brushing the cotton from the card cylinder into a suction receiving mouth 68 from which a pneumatic tube 69 conveys the cotton to a suitable storage compartment 10 at the rear of the tractor for periodical dumping. This mechanism may be driven by sprocket and chain connections ll, as in Figure 1, from the shaft 12, before mentioned as driving the front and rear shafts 35 and 36 in relatively opposite directions. Shaft 12 also has a sprocket and chain connection 5 with a blower 16 in the pneumatic conveyor tube 59, and is in connection with a shaft ll through a shaft 18 and through universal joints l9. Shaft ll, journalled on the axle of the rear wheels i2, is actuated through gearing 80 from the rear portion of the main shaft of the tractor or a part or parts in effective driven relation thereto, all as best seen in Figure 1.

Thus, due to the use of continuously driven V-belts of the double form shown, the present invention permits of greatly increasing the speed of rotation of the spindles with a corresponding increase in their effective picking action and, due to the present arrangement of parts, it is obvious the invention provides for the use of such belts in minimum number and maximum safety.

What I claim is:

1. A cotton picking unit including horizontally movable endless series of vertical stripper bars and carrier bars, vertical series of spindles having rotatable supports in connection with the carrier bars preventing lengthwise movement of the spindles, said spindles being rotatable and lengthwise movable through the stripper bars in horizontal lines, and having tapering friction wheels at their inner ends, endless chains separately supporting and moving said carrier and stripper bars in series, means supporting and driving said chains, and endless belts operatively in sup-- porting and driving connection with the chain supporting and driving means, each belt having a V-shaped portion in frictional engagement with the friction wheels of horizontal lines of spindles above and below the same.

2. The arrangement set forth in claim 1, in which the chain supports include front and rear shafts also supporting the belts, one of said shafts driving the chains in one direction and the other shaft driving the belts in a relatively opposite direction.

3. A cotton picking unit including. a horizontally movable endless series of vertical rows of spindles having friction wheels at their inner ends forming V-shaped spaces between the wheels of each vertical row, horizontally movable endless belts for rotating the spindles having V-shaped portions extending into the said spaces between the friction wheels, each belt operatively engaging friction wheels above and below the same and supporting and driving connections for said spindles and belts.

4. A cotton picking unit including a horizontally movable endless series of vertical rows of spindles having friction wheels at their inner ends forming V-shaped spaces between the wheels of each vertical row, horizontally movable endless belts for rotating the spindles having V- shaped portions extending into the said spaces between the friction wheels, each belt operatively engaging friction wheels above and below the same, and means for supporting and moving said series of spindles and said belts in relatively opposite directions.

5. In a cotton picking unit, a horizontally movable endless series of rows of spindles in vertical and horizontal alinement and rotatable during such movement, said spindles having friction wheels at their inner ends, means for supporting and moving said spindles including endless flexible members and driven shafts around which said members extend, means in driving connection with one of said shafts for moving said spindle supporting endless members, endless belts also extending around said shafts and engaging the spindle friction Wheels to rotate the latter, and means in driving relation with the other shaft for moving said belts.

6. In a cotton picking unit, a horizontally movable endless series of rows of spindles in vertical and horizontal alinement and rotatable during such movement, said spindles having friction wheels at their inner ends, means for supporting and moving said spindles including endless flexible members and driven shafts around which said members extend, means in driving connection with one of said shafts for moving said spindle supporting endless members, endless belts also extending around said shafts and engaging the spindle friction wheels to rotate the latter, means in driving relation with the other shaft for moving said belts, and means for driving said shafts in relatively opposite directions.

'7. The construction and arrangement of parts set forth in claim 6, in which the friction wheels are tapering, and the belts are of V-shape, each belt engaging and driving the friction wheels of two horizontal lines of spindles.

8. The cotton picker as set forth in claim 6, including means for guiding and absorbing any slack in the said V-belts.

9. The cotton picker as set forth in claim 6, including means for individually adjusting the tension of said V-belts and maintaining uniform tension thereof.

CHARLES R. BERRY. 

